Category Archives: wages

Fairy Tales by the World Bank

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According to this article: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/education/poor-education-unemployment-caused-arab-spring-claims-world-bank

… World Bank would like to blame the Arab Spring on the lack of college education…while saying that unemployment could be helped by education.

Yeah….that isn’t playing out so well over across the pond, where unemployment of college educated folks is the highest ever, according to this blog:http://www.econmatters.com/2012/05/first-time-ever-most-of-unemployed-are.html

Although I don’t agree with the author’s assertion that the “solution” is to do away with college loans (can you say rightwing?), but rather, to…you know, this will sound crazy….but the solution isn’t to deny college education, but to actually change the economic policies by Friedman economists who believe that unemployment is actually good for the country…(as James Medoff and Andrew Harless asserted in their book, The Indebted Society.)

Friedman and his followers believe in a convoluted policy called “Natural Rate of Unemployment” which embraces the neocon mindset of greed is good.

Here’s a great blog on the subject.

From the blog below the first:

…the whole story is starting to feel like a comedy routine: yet again the economy slides, unemployment soars, banks get into trouble, governments rush to the rescue — but somehow it’s only the banks that get rescued, not the unemployed.

[italics mine]

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You know, whenever I read the financial theories, I come back to the thought that the way that we do business is set up to go against the best interests of Mother Earth: use up resources without giving back.

That’s a self-defeating proposition.

The bigger question is how can we have jobs or some form of support that is in tune with nature?  Is that possible?

Afghan killings, the poor, bankers, etc.

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Common dreams has this link up on yet another killing of innocent Afghanis’ who were minding their own business. Meanwhile, support for the war from the people who are paying for it, is at a new low.  Where’s my representation, again…?

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Meanwhile, the repubs continue their “Eat Shit” campaign against the poor, elderly, and disabled in this country…because, you know, we have to be over in Afghanistan or whatever country has our oil in it, and we can’t be bothered with either creating jobs or feeding people if there are no decent paying jobs available so they can feed themselves….

The comments section brings up the involuntary servitude of the Prisons for Fun and Profit scheme.

The most telling paragraph is this one in the Reuters clip:

The Ryan bill also takes aim at financial reforms, eliminating the government’s powers to shut down large financial institutions, as well as cutting funding for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A tort reform plan to end frivolous lawsuits included in the measure would lead to lower health care costs, according the CBO.

There is the heart of this, folks.  I’m reading The Indebted Society by James Medoff and Andrew Harless in which they assert that the economy of this country has been manipulated by the bankers/financial institutions for their own benefit.  Bankers need low wages so that people will borrow.  The book stated that wages have remained stagnant (which we already knew) and that people were borrowing just to maintain their lifestyles as far back as the eighties.  However, those things they were borrowing money for–luxury items–were not necessary for life and if they had to let them go back to the bank for lack of payment it wasn’t a big hardship.  However, with this current economic situation, the borrowing was not for luxury items, but just to survive–they refinanced their homes, or borrowed on credit cards to buy groceries and needed items…that sort of thing.  And that is why we saw so many folks “hit the wall”.  Their wages were no longer able to meet the very basics of life.

Medoff and Harless are blaming the Federal Reserve for not wanting inflation to rise–bankers don’t like inflation because it hurts their bottom line.  And they heavily influence the Fed, as much as the Fed would like to deny it.    Medoff and Harless say that there has been too much emphasis on consumption, and not enough on investment.

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And, just to shed light on the media campaign by the sociopaths–I was flipping through the radio the other night, and there was Sean Hannity.

Hannity actually made the claim that “socialist spending has gotten us into this economy.”   Say whaaat?  No, it’s not taxing the top 1% at a fair tax rate, and even reducing their taxes while starting not one, not two, but three military conflicts and/or wars, it’s feeding the poor and the elderly!  God these people drive me crazy.

Oh, and they’re quick to bring God into the conversation to justify their un-Jesus-like selfishness:

Overheard on a rightwing station here in FW (they’re pretty much all rightwing, just some to a lesser degree)–

“Be obedient to God–get out and vote.  Be obedient to God–politically you’re either conservative or liberal.  You have to decide which way is obedient to God. ”

Yeah, so wouldn’t following  “Thou Shalt Not Kill” and “Thou Shalt Not Covet thy neighbors’ stuff” (this includes oil, folks) be obedient to God?   How about “Do unto others as you would have done unto you?”

 

 

 

ALEC, jobs, and decent pay

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Center for Media and Democracy has posted this article on the next target of ALEC:  fair wages, jobs, and workers compensation.

The article notes ALEC’s support of the for-profit prison industry– link here.  I have to wonder if Dick Cheney is in on this….and whatever happened to that indictment…?  If you read the entire article, Scott Walker is knee deep in this–sponsoring bills that required inmates to serve their entire sentences, regardless of good behavior or counseling.

From the link on allowing employers’ access to medical records:

Section 3. Employers’ shall be allowed access to all relevant medical information,
without the express authorization or consent, of the employee in all cases in which an
employee files a claim under employer provided workers’ compensation insurance or any
other employer provided entitlement . The insurance carriers or administrator shall
provide and discuss relevant documents of the claim file that shall affect the employer’s
premium with the employer, and shall supply copies of the documents that affect the
premium.

(Italics mine)

Big Brother, anyone?  Good Grief.  An employer could use this personal information in any number of ways to discredit an employee.

Here’s a page “explaining” why employees might file false claims:

http://www.insurancefraud.org/workers_comp_scams.htm

If you click on the “About Us” link, it is full of insurance companies’ sponsorship.  Hmmm….no bias there, eh?

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On to other matters–

ALEC is also trying to interfere with the EPA’s regulation of coal ash, a serious health hazard.  I followed the CNN link about the devastating effects on homeowners’s health and exposure to Uranium, which is believed to be coming from the coal ash ponds.  These unfortunate individuals have suffered terribly, while their houses are secretly bought and the evidence (house) is destroyed.

Unbelievable.

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And if poisoning your home, denying your valid worker compensation claim aren’t enough, we’ll put the nail in the coffin by feeding you Mad Cow.  Warning: don’t read this if you’re eating your lunch/dinner…might make you toss your waffles.

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Lastly,  here’s a story on the 7.5 million, er, 200,000 tab on the damage done by the protestors in the Wisconsin uprising…while ignoring the damage done by the staff.  I think they ought to send the bill to Scott Walker and his ALEC supporters, whom, it would seem, have plenty of money to throw around…